Of the vast amount of information available on the Internet, which subset is most hated by practically everyone – child pornography. This deplorable form of pornography is so widely frowned upon in our society; persons who are convicted and serve time in prison are considered the lowest man on the totem pole and suffer unheard of humiliations including sexual abuse and severe beatings. Detractors of freedom advocates will use it as leverage by pointing out that persons seeking to ensure free speech often end up protecting these sexual deviants. Even the United States government can use it in legal requests to gain unquestioned cooperation from just about everyone.

Scotts Miracle-Gro, the Marysville, Ohio company that brought us the 500 pound tomato, is the largest employer in their fine city. With a population of less than 16,000 people, employees of Scotts have little alternative of working anywhere else. They also have been relegated much less control over their lives and personal choices. Scotts Miracle-Gro announced in early 2006, that any worker who smoked would be fired – period. Workers have less than one year to comply or they will be terminated.

The Danish publish a religious cartoon satirizing the Muslim prophet Muhammad, the Muslims begin shouting about it, it becomes big news and gets published in even more publications, and the United States jumps in and stirs things up even more. What a crazy world...

While the world knew about the disaster at Three mile Island, few Americans are aware of what was actually the worst nuclear spill in U.S. history, according to officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At 5:00 AM on Jul 16, 1979, 100 million gallons of radioactive waster containing uranium tailings breached from a tailing pond into the north arm of Rio Puerco, near the small town of Church Rock, New Mexico.
One hours later, workers shored up the hole in the tailing pond dam, but by 8:00 AM the radiation was detectable in Gallup, New Mexico. Radiation was detected up to 50 miles from the site of the spill.

InfraGard is an information sharing and analysis effort serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members. At its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the private sector. InfraGard is an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States. InfraGard Chapters are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories.  If this sounds like Nazi Germany during the early WWII era, you are not far off...

Charles Goodyear, born in 1800 in New Haven, Connecticut, was barely 60 years old when he died in debt. His discovery of the process of vulcanization should have earned him millions. Many are surprised to find that the Goodyear Tire Company that bears his name, was not founded by Charles Goodyear, never paid any royalties to his family, and in fact, never paid Charles Goodyear a penny for his amazing contribution to science.

Florida Congressman Mark Foley was a prominent supporter, even an avid advocate, of heavier penalties against pedophiles. He once commented that laws against child molesters should be so tough that pedophiles, when caught, would discover that their life was over. “We track library books better than we do sexual predators”, Foley had said. Now Foley has been discovered to be a pedophile himself after a 2005 incident with a 16 year old boy, was uncovered months later.

The United States has had many antagonists during its eventful history – Russia, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq – even the mother country, Britain, was once considered an aggressor. One sordid assailant is often overlooked and possibly even misunderstood – Iran. Many in the U.S. already recognize that Iran has a strong loathing for the United States. What many do not understand is that their hatred of the U.S. is so strong, it creates a powder keg situation in the middle east.

Hollywood is probably the only city in the world that offers fame, glitz and glamour, something that every young person longs for, but secretly steals the person’s soul. History is rife with examples of perilous plunges young actors and actresses have taken after seeding their souls with the “treasures” that Hollywood offers. Sadly, it looks like successful actress Lindsay Lohan is headed down that same path.

It is common knowledge that large corporations employ “spin machines” or marketing arms that serve to promote the company via various ingenious methods. A common method of marketing is “leaking” information to the media. Leaks most often involve news related to the company itself but many times the leaks may pertain to competitors instead.

The United States undoubtedly possesses the most sophisticated surveillance and spying technological capabilities on the planet. Technological abilities that are public knowledge include electronic tapping phone conversations, high resolution satellite photography, sophisticated GPS tracking, and the ability to scramble or alter electronic communications. Technologies that we do not know about, but suspect, include the ability to emit pulses that can undetectably obliterate electronic equipment, the ability to monitor all forms of Internet traffic, the ability to tap cell phone conversations remotely, the ability to track a person’s location real-time, and much more. Luckily, United States laws prohibit misuse of these remarkable technologies and specifically disallow their use against American citizens. Or has that changed with the advent of the Patriot Act?

"He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994, and she did name him the head of the Governor's Business Council, and I decided to leave him in place just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy." This is how President George Bush explained away his relationship to Enron CEO, Kenneth Lay. Enron, the single largest contributor to the George Bush campaign, donated over $550,000 to further Bush’s political goals.

International Coal Group Inc. owners and operators of the Sago Mine in central West Virginia indicated just hours after the Sago mine disaster, that recent citations against their mine were "minor". Meanwhile, the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration report that 18 of the 46 citations were "significant and substantial". Over the past two years, the Sago Mine has been slapped with over 270 citations of which nearly 1/3 were "significant and substantial" including, mine roofs that tend to collapse without warning, faulty or inadequate tunnel support, failure to adequately insulate wiring (which could cause dangerous sparks), and dangerous buildups of flammable coal dust.

The USA Patriot Act, or Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (yes, that’s really the title of the Act), was passed in late 2001. The 342 page Act introduced a plethora of legislative changes which significantly increased the surveillance and investigative powers of U.S. law enforcement agencies.

In the oil “market”, as with any free market, major oil company’s control over the raw product supply results in direct control over the price. There are many aspects of this control, some within our control, and some beyond.

Charles Goodyear, born in 1800 in New Haven, Connecticut, was barely 60 years old when he died in debt. His discovery of the process of vulcanization should have earned him millions. Many are surprised to find that the Goodyear Tire Company that bears his name, was not founded by Charles Goodyear, never paid any royalties to his family, and in fact, never paid Charles Goodyear a penny for his amazing contribution to science.

Florida Congressman Mark Foley was a prominent supporter, even an avid advocate, of heavier penalties against pedophiles. He once commented that laws against child molesters should be so tough that pedophiles, when caught, would discover that their life was over. “We track library books better than we do sexual predators”, Foley had said. Now Foley has been discovered to be a pedophile himself after a 2005 incident with a 16 year old boy, was uncovered months later.

The United States has had many antagonists during its eventful history – Russia, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq – even the mother country, Britain, was once considered an aggressor. One sordid assailant is often overlooked and possibly even misunderstood – Iran. Many in the U.S. already recognize that Iran has a strong loathing for the United States. What many do not understand is that their hatred of the U.S. is so strong, it creates a powder keg situation in the middle east.

Hollywood is probably the only city in the world that offers fame, glitz and glamour, something that every young person longs for, but secretly steals the person’s soul. History is rife with examples of perilous plunges young actors and actresses have taken after seeding their souls with the “treasures” that Hollywood offers. Sadly, it looks like successful actress Lindsay Lohan is headed down that same path.

It is common knowledge that large corporations employ “spin machines” or marketing arms that serve to promote the company via various ingenious methods. A common method of marketing is “leaking” information to the media. Leaks most often involve news related to the company itself but many times the leaks may pertain to competitors instead.